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| Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg (r) in 2 Guns |
2 Guns Too Much for B.O. Competition
Evidently, two guns beat two claws... at least at this weekend's box office. Universal's action flick 2 Guns, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg opened to an as expected $27.4 million, replacing last week's #1 The Wolverine ($21.7 million) atop the weekend heap. Hollywood remained all smiles, as total grosses remained up... 15% over the same frame, last year. Even domestic disappointment The Smurfs 2 made up for its third-place finish ($18.2M) with a healthy $52.5 million overseas.
How did 2 Guns manage to usurp Marvel's metallic wonder? Two words. Great casting.
"It was super casting," said Universal's head of distribution Nikki Rocco. "There was remarkable chemistry. The two of them work so well together. You see it on screen. Baltasar (Kormakur) really gave them the energy to be able to do what they did in this film."
Speaking of energy, Warner Bros. Pictures' surprise hit The Conjuring showed it still has some... passing the $100 million mark ($108.6M) domestically, as it finished fourth overall in its third week. Fifth place finisher Despicable Me 2 continued to fare well also, adding $10.4 million to bring its five week total to a whopping $326.7 million. There's nothing despicable about those kind of numbers, is there?
All of a sudden, August (normally one of Hollywood's slowest months) is starting to resemble a real sizzler (and not just temperature-wise.) This week, Jennifer Aniston stars in We're the Millers, and Matt Damon's Elysium opens Friday. Expect tidy openings for both.
The top 10 films for this weekend...
1. 2 Guns $27.4M
2. The Wolverine $21.7M
3. The Smurfs 2 $18.2M
4. The Conjuring $13.7M
5. Despicable Me 2 $10.4M
6. Grown Ups 2 $8.1M
7. Turbo $6.4M
8. Red 2 $5.7M
9. The Heat $4.7M
10. Pacific Rim $4.6M
